The Guard at the Gate
by SiriusBlack4Ever
Summary: Everyone remembers the guard with the Keaton mask from 'Ocarina of Time'. But we only know him as 'the guard at the gate'. What we don't know is how Link, legendary boy-hero, influenced and changed his life. This story tries to capture that point.


_A/N: I'm a huge fan of video games, and when I saw that 'Zelda' was on here, I knew I had to write a Zelda fic. So, that's what this is. Not entirely planned out or anything, just a little project I started and finished within an hour._

_Disclaimer: Yeah, I own the game Zelda. In fact, I own eight different versions of it, ranging from systems like the original Nintendo (NES) all the way up to Gamecube. However, I don't own the characters or the world in which they live. Nope, just the games themselves. The rest of that stuff belongs to my best friends at Nintendo, as well as my very best friend Shigeru Miyamoto. And anyone else who wants to sue me for this. Yeah, this stuff belongs to them too. _

The Guard at the Gate

Written by SiriusBlack4Ever

"Thanks! You really are a little hero!" I said to the young boy standing in front of me. He just stared up at me with a slight look of annoyance on his face, and then glanced over at the large, iron gate that was blocking his path.

I glanced at it too, and realized that I was supposed to be opening it for him. I quickly cleared my thraot and stood up straighter again, and then tapped the bottom of my spear onto the ground. The gate slowly opened, and with that, the boy took one breath, and started marching up the hill.

I slowly turned to watch him trudge up the path, and continued watching him until he turned around the first corner. I glanced up towarsd the sky, and stared for a minute at the smoke-ringed top of Death Mountain. Then I looked back down at the path, where the little kid had just been.

I half expected him to come running and screaming back, but of course, he didn't. I had to hand it to the kid; going up Death Mountain was a seriously brave thing to do. Even if he wasn't going to the very top, going up there at all was a huge accomplishment for anyone, especially a little kid. He couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old.

I stood there in awe for a few more seconds, staring at the mountain wall where he had just been. I was wondering if I would ever see him again. However, I was interupted by one of the Kakarian townspeople who questioned me about my new Keaton mask, and the boy was pushed to the back of my mind.

-o-

Except for the that first night when I had gone home and had given my son that new Keaton mask, which he of course loved, I hadn't thought of that little kid once. I was too busy with my guards duty to notice anything else. In fact, three days after the incident, I got so tired that I actually fell asleep during my night shift. I was still standing, though I was leaning against the wall for support, and I think that I may have been snoring slightly.

But I was awakened from my sleep by a soft noise to the side of me. _Criminals_, I thought. _They're trying to sneak into the mountain without me noticing._ However, as I tentativly opened my eyes to sneak a glance next to me, I noticed that it wasn't criminals at all, but that it was the little kid who had sold me the Keaton mask three days earlier, and had then proceeded to venture up the mountain. My mouth dropped open slightly as I saw him, looking very tired and slightly scuffed up, but overall fine, as he silently slipped himself in between the small iron bars and started to walk down the path towards the entrance to Kakariko Village.

That, I think, was the first time that I really noticed him. Before, all that I paid attention to was his face, since I was so excited about my new mask. But now I noticed the rest of him as well. He was kind of short, and had a small, skinny body. He had blonde hair, and was wearing one gold hoop earring in one of his ears. But that wasn't what really got to me.

No, what I really noticed were his clothes. He seemed to be wearing a sharp green tunic, with a belt around his waist. He was also wearing a green cap that came down in a point behind him, and he had on these small brown boots that almost came up to his knees.

I had seen clothes like this before, but only in books. Clothes like these were worn by the forest children, who lived in Kokari Forest, which was not too far away from here. But the thing was, I thought that those children were forbidden to leave the forest, which was why we never saw them, and that they also had fairies.

As if reading my mind, a little white fairy popped out from behind the shield on the kid's back. For a moment, I was too stunned by the fairy to notice what I had just seen. Then it clicked. A shield! The little kid had a shield! It seemed to be a small, cracked wooden one with a large red symbol on it that I didn't recognize. It was then that I noticed that he also had a sword. It was small, yes, but I was sure that it got the job done. Besides, a sword was a sword. I mean, I myself didn't even own a sword.

As the kid tiredly made his way to the entrance to the village, I continued to watch him. I watched him just as I had three days ago when he had been going up the mountain, only this time he was going in the opposite direction. And this time, he didn't come back.

-o-

It had been seven years. Seven long, hard years of pain, suffering, and horror. Not long after I had seen that little kid walk out of Kakariko and go down the steps into Hyrule Field, word was out that there was a terror in the castle and only Princess Zelda and her royal advisor, Impa, escaped. Everyone else within it perished. The castle was destroyed, and a new one was constructed, towering over everything and looking as frightening as could be.

All of us soldiers lost our jobs, and we had to find new homes to live in. However, since the town was deserted except for the new redeads that no one wanted to get too close to, we were forced to have everyone move to Kakariko village. Which they did. In fact, I myself got a home there, and I lived with my family there for seven long years.

I often thought about that little kid who had gone up the mountain before, and had returned, three days later, almost perfectly normal. I thought about how he had a letter from young Princess Zelda telling me that he was going to save the world. I had laughed then, but after thinking about that night when he returned from Death Mountain, I thought that maybe it was true. So I held onto that thought for that whole time, just waiting for that kid to come back and save us all from our new 'ruler', Ganondorf. But for seven long years, I waited and waited and waited, and not once did I see him again.

-o-

I had given up hope of that kid ever coming back. I knew that it was foolish to believe that he would, but it was a small crumb of hope in my upside-down world. The only crumb of hope, in fact. Sure, life in the town was peaceful, but you couldn't go anywhere else without knowing about the disaster that had struck.

Rumor was that Lon Lon Ranch was being run by the evil man Ingo, and that it was a a total mess for Miss Malon and Mr. Talon. It was also being said that the Zora's, some of the kindest creatures in Hyrule, had their home frozen over, and most had died or lie frozen within the ice. The Gerudo's were having trouble as well, and although most people didn't like them anyway, it was still hard news to hear. Half of the Goron's up on Death Mountain were missing, and even the Kokari were said to be in danger, with monsters taking over their village and forest. I thought that, with all of this, there was no way that the kid could still be alive. If he was trying to save the world, then why would there be all of these problems?

But one day, when I was out buying food for my family, I heard some of the other villagers whispering excitedly with each other. I slowed my pace, and tried to listen to what they were saying.

"Yes, I heard too! The Kokari's forest is safe now! Someone saved them from the evils within it!"

"Yes, yes, precisely what I heard! And I also heard that the person who saved them was a young boy who had a green tunic and a fairy just like them, only he wasn't as young as they were. Supposedly in his teens or something..."

My eyes grew wide, and I suddenly ran back to my house. Could it be that the little 'hero boy' really was alive, and that he was back? I dared not get my hopes up, but I couldn't help but feel that this was too much of a coincidence. It was the only thing on my mind for the next few days, and I really wanted to see him again.

Two days later, my wish was granted. I was making my way out of the pub late one night, and I saw someone lurking in the shadows, looking as though they were moving towards Death Mountain. I made sure that I was not noticed, and slid behind the building to watch. What I saw made me completely breathless.

Stepping into the moonlight, as he walked up to where the large iron gate used to be, was Hero Boy. Though, as I stared at him, I noticed that he looked slightly different. He was now seven years older, and was much taller. He had more muscle, and was now wearing white tight-type things over his once bare legs. But everything else about him seemed the same.

He was still wearing the green tunic, as the woman had said, and he still had that crazy green cap. He also still had the earring in his ear, and he, to my delight, still had the fairy. He also had on a shield, though I recognized this one to be a Hylian Shield, not his old wooden one. And, he still had a sword. Though, this one was quite larger, and it looked somehow familiar...

I quietly gasped, and he turned and stared in my direction. I quickly slipped completely behind the building, and tried to stay in the shadows. I couldn't help but gasp, though, when I realized what sword he had. It was the Master Sword, the greatest and most powerful sword in all of Hyrule. And it had been part of the reason that Hyrule had become what it was today: a horrible mess. I knew that he was the one responsible for causing this, and I was suddenly angry. But then, something else poked through in the back of my mind.

In all of the old Hylian legends, it said that only the true Hero of Time, the hero of Hyrule, in other words, could pull the Master Sword from it's resting place in the Temple of Time. So, Princess Zelda had indeed been right. This boy had been the hero. Not just my little hero for getting me a gift for my son, but the real hero of Hyrule.

I cautiously peeked around the side of the building, watching the boy as he stood looking at the mountain. Then, just as he had done seven years ago, he took a deep breath, and marched up the pathway. And, like I had done seven years ago, I watched him until he turned the corner and was out of site. Then I again stared at the wall where he had just been, for whose knows how long, before going home to my family.

-o-

That was the last time that I ever saw the boy. He did indeed save Hyrule, and he of course defeated Ganondorf and rescued Princess Zelda. In fact, there was a huge celebration afterwards. But I never saw him there. I assume that he was still lurking in the shadows, not wanting to face the rest of us quite yet. And after everything he'd been through, I didn't blame him. A little time to himself was what he needed.

But I do wish I could have talked to him one final time, and could have told him how much I appreciated everything he did, and how much faith I had put in him to save us all, and how he had exceeded my expectations. But no such luck with telling him. No one has seen him since the night of the celebration, but I'm sure that he's all right. I'll bet that he's with Princess Zelda wherever he is. She seems to have developed a certain fondness for the kid, if you know what I mean.

That's funny. I suddenly had a flashback from my past, from when I was still a guard and I was still watching over the gate to Death Mountain. Strange... Well, I'm going to go rest now. My kid is still obsessed with Keaton things, and he made me sit and play his Keaton board game with him for two hours...

-o-

Ah, good morning. I'm so tired, but it's already 8:00 am, and I must get to my guard duties. Don't want anyone walking up to Death Mountain uninvited now, do we?

_Well, I hope you enjoyed this short story. It, of course, goes along with 'Ocarina of Time' for Nintendo 64, my second favorite Zelda game next to 'A Link to the Past' for SNES. If you didn't catch the ending, it's supposed to go with what happens at the end of Ocarina of Time when Zelda tells Link that they have to go back in time to when it all began. So that's why the guard went back to his old job. Anyway, I hope you liked the story, and please review!_

_May Farore, Din and Nayru protect you,_

_SiriusBlack4Ever _


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